ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to establish which conceptions of virtue that constitute a challenge and which conceptions do not. The claim that the government ought to promote virtue is frequently understood as an objection to liberal principles and values. The alleged defect of liberalism is that it denies the relevance of virtues to political life. As the chapter argues, this assertion should be broken down into two distinct claims. First, there is the normative issue whether liberal arguments against a politics of virtue are good or not. Second, there is the descriptive issue about whether or not liberalism reasons in terms of virtue. A number of scholars have drawn attention to the complicated liberal attitude vis-a-vis virtues and conceptions of the good life. The liberal citizen has to be tolerant, cooperative and has to accept that other people are entitled to respect and justice. Certainly no liberal society could exist without these virtues.
